All In A Days Work
by Dreams Of A Shipper
Summary: When Team Levi is sent to help over the breached Wall, their skills are put to the test. Especially when one of their own is injured. One shot of some Team Levi happenings, naturally with some Rivetra mixed in. Rated T for safety.


**Hi all! It's been a long time since I've uploaded a story, but AOT feels hit me, so here we go!**

 **This is just a one shot of the amazing Team Levi.**

 **I know timing of events, etc may not add up exactly but... Meh.**

 **As always I do not own anything but the Fic idea!**

 **Hope you all enjoy, please review if you feel like it :)**

* * *

"Damn it all. This is becoming a persistent pain in the ass."

The grumbles of the soldier fell upon irked ears, his team mates trying to focus on prepping for fighting.

"Aurou, will you please quit complaining already? It's giving me a headache," Petra growled at the man beside her, putting a little bit too much pressure on her gas canister in annoyance.

It snapped into place loudly, causing Aurou to raise an eyebrow at her harsh tone and actions.

"I'm just saying, Petra dear, that it seems the Garrison are needing our help more and more since the Wall fell," Aurou continued with his ranting, mixing in his usual dash of arrogant air. "Considering how much the people give out about us Scouts being a waste of resources, they sure do seem intent on having us around when the actual fighting comes knocking on their doors."

There was a brief pause as his team-mates let his words sink in, the sound of their equipment being prepped filling the evening air.

"You know, he actually has a point there," Günther grudgingly pointed out. "They sure are quick enough to sing our praises when we take the brunt of their attacks for them."

"Point or not, if the Captain hears you talking that way, he won't be happy," Petra warned, annoyance still colouring her tone. "We're not only supposed to be professionals and above gloating, but we should willingly aid humanity and our fellow soldiers. And not look for an ego stroke out of it, either."

The last bit was followed with a look aimed at Aurou.

Just as her team mate opened his mouth to reply, Eld interrupted, looking up from checking his blades.

"Yeah, yeah, you're both right. Now can we stop and focus on our job, please?" Sunlight caught his blonde hair as he shook his head in dismay.

"Do you two always have to argue about everything?"

"Yes," came the simultaneous reply.

Petra and Aurou looked at each other, a grin breaking out on Aurou's face, as Petra gave a soft laugh while she rolled her eyes at him.

"Well, at least you agree on one thing," Günther smiled at the two of them.

Team Levi continued to get their 3DM gear ready, straps, buckles and metal being pulled and adjusted on their bodies.

The side of the courtyard they were waiting in bounced and echoed the noises around. It gave the impression that, much like stories of their strength and accomplishments suggested, there were more than merely four soldiers responsible.

"Oi, aren't you lot ready yet?" A voice called out to them, marching boots snapping on the stone tiles.

Captain Levi himself stood in the entrance to the streets, hands on hips as he glared at his team.

"What, were you swapping beauty tips? There's a job to be done, come on."

Without another word, their Captain spun on his heel and his squad scrambled to put in place any last bits of gear and fall in line behind their fearless leader.

"So, Captain, what's the update?" Eld asked, his long legs allowing him to catch up first.

Levi kept striding down the streets, dark hair bouncing in time with his steps.

"According to the Garrison, and what Erwin had to practically pull from them all," a disapproving noise came before he continued, "While they were trying to double check the gate was secure from after the breach, a group of Titans was attracted. Seems they've managed to get themselves screwed all over again."

"But, I thought they were trying to reinforce the gates from the secure side? How'd they manage to get into trouble without compromising this side?" Petra asked, tugging her cape more snugly into place on her shoulders.

"Yes, they were, but some idiots decided that they would go over and play decoy to keep the Titans from building up too much. As you can imagine, it didn't exactly work out for them. Now, we have to go collect the ones who managed to get themselves driven further from the wall."

"Who else is going over, Captain?" Günther asked.

"There are a few teams, Erwin is briefing them at the launch point," Levi waved a hand in the general direction to their left flank.

The squad looked at where he was pointing, turning puzzled looks on each other.

"And we're not going that way, because..?" Eld prompted, an eyebrow raised.

"Because, Eld, they're job is recovery. We, on the other hand, have been tasked with thinning out the herd," Levi paused at the base of the wall, looking down to adjust his gear before looking at each of his team.

"We're the kill team. Now, everyone up."

Without another word, Levi's cables shot with a hiss, pulling him cleanly up in his ascent to the top of the wall.

"Great. I know we're the strongest squad and all that, but do we always have to play front runners?" Aurou sighed, shooting his own cables and attaching to the wall.

"Yeah, seems we're always sent in to clear out ahead of the rest lately," Günther shook his head.

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm looking at this as an opportunity to raise my count kills. Someone's finally got top Petra's number," Eld grinned back at the petite woman.

"Hmph. You'll just have to keep up with me today then, boys," she smirked before jettisoning up the wall, the three hot on her heels.

"It's not our fault you manage to sneak your way into so many kill assists," the brunette to her right shrugged jokingly.

"Hey, I started and/or finished most of those assists myself, thank you very much, Mr Schultz," she gave him a pointed look.

"Whatever you say, Petra," smirked Aurou as he chimed in, too.

She merely responded by sticking her tongue out at him.

On reaching the top of the wall, Levi only seconds ahead of them, they were cast in the bright glow of a huge, brilliant orange sun, having hit its peak, on its way to starting to set.

"Hmm, that low light may be a problem," Levi muttered, the sun already nearing sight blinding level. "I hope I don't have to warn you all to be extra vigilant with that in mind."

"No, sir," came the chorus.

"Alright. Plan is to start just outside the block radiating towards the gate," Levi went to stand at the top of the wall, above and right of the gate.

Joining him, Team Levi looked down to see a small, yet troubling amount of Titans either scratching on the gate, or wandering the immediate area.

"We need to start drawing them away and picking them off."

Dark eyes glanced up and held each of their eyes.

"We stick together, V formation, no more than a streets distance between each other. We only have a rough estimate of numbers to fly on."

Moving off to the side of the wall even further right of the gate, Levi raised a hand and pointed to a street a couple of blocks over, the buildings nearest the edge forming a square against the wall.

"We drop there, get our bearings, then move out and spiral inwards. It may help stop too many of them peeling off the wall as we try get closer to the gate," Levi directed, hands moving to his cable handles once more. "Any questions?"

Four heads shook a negative.

"Good. Let's move out and get this done."

* * *

Things started off smoothly, only two Titans in view on landing.

Eld and Auruo dispatched the Titan to the right, Levi felling the other in a green blur.

"That's one, Petra," Eld winked as they shot off their landing spot and started their curve inwards.

"Yeah, yeah. We'll see," she smiled back, and she could nearly feel the challenging glint in her eye.

Nothing made things easier than having a bit of healthy competition to dispel any hovering nerves.

They were still only human, after all.

Keeping her eyes peeled from her spot on the right flank, Petra couldn't help but take a second to admire the beauty and grace at the sight of the Special Ops Squad, flying in perfect unison with each other.

They really were a well oiled machine.

At the front, Levi looked almost as if he was out for a casual training exercise, poised and relaxed.

Yet, she knew if danger were to crop up, he'd have it dealt with precision.

"Titan up ahead," Levi called from his position, nodding towards the eight metre they had seen just as he spoke. "Eld, Petra. Take care of it."

Eld, who was just ahead and in towards the centre on the 'V' formation from Petra, turned to her.

He gave a slight flick of his fingers to the left of the Titan and Petra knew exactly what he meant.

Giving the blonde a nod, the two peeled off, rocketing towards the Titan.

Keeping track of her team mate, Petra watched his progress as he whistled towards the tower of flesh. It was facing towards his line of sight, it's slow, lumbering movements alerting them to when it had seen him.

Just as planned.

Before the thing could fully turn and pinpoint him, Eld swooped in close enough to slice its fleshy arm just behind the elbow, ensuring he had its full attention.

A raspy roar erupted from the beast.

Racing behind its line of vision, Petra grappled across parallel to Eld's trajectory line.

Without breaking pace, she altered between her 3DM gear and running full tilt for several steps across the wide building separating her from the Titan.

It also helped prevent the Titan hearing the hiss of her gear until the last minute.

As she ran, her hands gripped her blades tightly in anticipation.

Reaching the edge of the building, she glanced at Eld.

He had managed to taunt the Titan enough to turn at the perfect angle, hovering for a split second midair, just enough for Petra to get the shot she needed and not put himself in grabbing position.

With a slight grunt of exertion, Petra launched off the edge of the building from her sprint. Adrenaline pulsed through her as she got a brief second of feeling like she was in a free fall, hair whipping back in the wind.

Then, her cable was reaching out, like metal fingers searching the evening air, before sinking into the back of the Titans head.

A burst of blood spat up on contact, the line tugging down slightly as it caught Petra's weight in her fall.

Now, she was on a beeline for the Titans nape.

Raising her swords slightly beside her, she used the momentum to pull her where she needed to be, and with a small, adrenaline filled cry, she drove her blades home.

The two blades snicked in and through the flesh, and Petra could feel the slight strain on her muscles as she made sure she pulled her swords all the way in and across the desired spot.

As she reached the end of the nape, feeling from the connection of her blades she'd indeed succeeded in slicing out the nape, the woman released the cable in the Titans head, grappling for the building beside her instead.

A huge crash sounded, the footing beneath her shaking slightly as the flesh beast collapsed sideways, it's already steaming body catching the building Petra had just launched from.

There was no pause in her movements as Petra used her momentum to swing around the chimney she'd attached to and rejoin Eld.

It had all happened in mere seconds, from the time they split from the group, to the Titan falling.

"Nicely done, Ral," the blonde man held out a hand, and she clapped her palm to his.

"Thanks. Couldn't have done it without you," she grinned back at her friend.

They shot back to their team, who had barely had to slow to allow them time to achieve their goal, falling back into perfect formation.

"Good job," Levi's brief praise came.

Petra felt warmth and pride radiate in her chest, satisfaction whirling through her.

We're not done yet, she scolded herself, squashing down the feeling.

She couldn't afford to relax, not even in the most guaranteed situations.

Nothing was certain on the field.

* * *

As Team Levi continued their path, few Titans cropped up.

Günther managed to snag a solo kill, catching a smaller Titan unawares as they swept inwards on where it was crouched, snacking on a fallen Garrison soldier.

The soldiers legs wiggled grotesquely as the Titan chewed on the top half of the body.

Dropping silently straight down on the beast, Günther landed and sliced simultaneously.

The thing didn't even sense its death coming from above, as absorbed as it was.

"Asshole," Günther muttered as he shot back into place, shaking drops of steaming blood from his hand.

"Well handled, Günther," Levi spoke, always ready to offer feedback. It was his job after all, to ensure his team was top of their game.

Nothing offered better experience than actual kills.

Just as they were approaching the apex of the curve, a scream rang out across the streets. Petra felt a shudder run up her spine at the unmistakable sound of pure, sense blocking, terror.

Looking around, Levi quickly assessed the situation.

Up ahead, a single soldier stood on a low roof, surrounded by three Titans and more quickly becoming aware of his presence.

It was eerie, seeing their giant, misshapen heads illuminated from the sun behind them, as they turned to stare at the soldier from their various locations, features shadowed and threatening.

The young man on the roof was standing, shaking from his roots to the sole of his feet, fingers yanking on his release handles over and over.

His gear gave out nothing but breathy gasps, the gas tanks long run out.

Tears ravaged down the soldiers cheeks, dripping freely onto the Rose crest on his uniform.

"We need to get him out before those other bastards reach him," Levi roared over the noise of their gear, hair pushed back from his face as he looked over his shoulder at his team.

Time was short and mocking as the Scouts raced the Titans reaching, clawing hands.

The soldier's screams continued to fill the air, urging them faster to his aid.

Levi, unsurprisingly, landed first, diving into a spin and slicing up the nearest Titans arm, cresting behind it and belting for its nape with a growl.

Aurou was in time to aid Levi on the next Titan, Günther and Eld joining forces on the last.

Petra saw what was happening as they did, the Titan Eld and Günther took on a hairs' breath from the soldier.

As the men descended, Petra landed in the nick of time, using her landing speed to body slam full force into the soldier. The two took a rolling dive across the roof, large fingers nabbing empty air mere millimetres from where they had just been.

Petra could feel the bite of the roof as it scraped and caught them, an elbow catching her jaw as she grasped the man to her.

In the background, the Titan fell, not having a chance of escaping the Special Op's blades.

Finally, they rolled to a stop, Petra panting heavily and wincing slightly as she rubbed a fresh slice in her palm off of her knee as she pressed herself up.

Beside her, the Garrison soldier propped his shaking hands on his knees, head low to the ground.

Petra could see dampness stain the roof as his tears continued to flow.

"Wh- what? I'm.. Alive?" Came a stuttering voice from the doubled over man.

"Yes, but not for long if we don't move it," Petra stated, not having time to allow the man a moment.

The other Titans were still approaching, the new appeal of more soldiers increasing their appetites.

Hauling the man roughly by the arm, the petite woman managed to get him to his feet.

Turning him in her grip, she gave his shoulders a shake.

"Hey," she ducked her head to catch his bewildered gaze, "We're not out of it yet. There's more coming."

As she corrected her gear after their roll, the man looked around in dazed terror.

"More?"

"Petra, come on! We need to move, we can't hold them all off him here," Levi barked, touching down briefly on the roof across from her.

"Yes, sir," she nodded, rounding on the soldier again.

"You're going to have to grab on," she told him, urgency evident under her sure tones, "You're out of gas."

"Now, Petra!" The yell came from her Captain again, as he and the rest of the team had to engage the first Titans reaching them.

When the soldier looked at Petra blankly, she hissed in frustration, shoving an arm under his armpit to his shoulder.

"Hold. On," she commanded.

Seemingly grasping what she said and her rough grip, the soldier finally responded and clung to her as they raced toward the edge of the roof.

Petra grunted at the extra weight and effort of supporting another body.

The man, though young and slender, was still taller and heavier built than her.

But, thanks to intense, constant training, she managed, swinging them both off the roof where there was a clear shot.

"No.. This... They're not supposed to be in here... This is our city," she heard from the shell shocked man wrapped around her.

"Yeah, I don't think they got that memo," she muttered, a deep frown etching in her forehead.

Behind her, she heard the whizz of gear, the men finished with the immediate threats.

"I saw one of the recovery teams not far from here," came Levi's call from her left. "We'll get him to them and track back to take care of that lot."

"Right," Petra called back, following the route Levi and the overs were started on.

Petra could feel her grip starting to weaken, but she grit her teeth and kept flying across rooftops and streets.

"Captain, more Titans up ahead," Aurou shouted with a grim expression.

"Damn it!"Levi hissed, cursing their rotten luck. "Oi! We need to hold formation, watch Petra's back. Avoid engaging when possible."

As the Captain continued to give orders, the Titans ahead came into view, loitering between them and the recovery team.

The man under Petra's arm tensed as he, too, spied the towers of doom waiting for them.

"No. No, we're headed straight for them! Run! We have to run!" He started wailing, starting to thrash in Petra's grip, causing even Levi to pause mid order.

"No, stop! We know what we're doing," Petra tried to assure him, but the man was past listening and reason.

A deathly wail started from him, and he kicked, thrashed and scratched at Petra.

He was jerking away from the direction they were heading, forcing Petra to twist sideways and slightly backwards, while still moving forwards.

She was too far away, the squad moving too fast, for the others to have time to help, to stop it happening.

Just as the man gave a final, jarring kick and push to Petra, her begging him to stop, it happened.

As they came to the end of a street, about to open up on a larger area, Petra's cable shot out for her next point of contact.

It never hit home.

Instead, a giant, solid hand shot out of nowhere and grabbed the cable on its path.

Time seemed to freeze and Petra saw everything in slow motion.

She could feel her fingers slipping from her death grip on the man as she saw the peach blur grab her cable.

She turned to look at the Titan, her hair across her face as she continued to race backwards, but still in a slowed state.

Just as she reached the edge of the building the Titan was lurking behind, she saw a giant smile, ear to ear, directly across from her.

In that, frozen, broken split second, it was just Petra and that grinning face.

The spell broke and time returned to the break neck speed they were going.

A gasp escaped Petra as she felt the tug on her cable.

With whip lashing speed and force, the Titan yanked her towards it, causing her to be lurched sideways.

The soldier flew from her grip, the Titans second hand already outstretched to catch him.

Petra felt the air whizz past her and could see a flash of flesh as she flew on her new path.

It was all she could do to raise a helpless hand as the wall came bulleting towards her.

* * *

It was like a nightmare, watching his squad member be thrown like a rag doll.

There was no time, not even for Levi, though, to stop it.

He had to just watch in horror as the Titan snagged her cable, like snapping a fly midair, and yanked her full force into the building beside it.

Petra hit the wall with an audible, sickening smack, rendered unconscious immediately.

Her body rolled, fell and twisted down the side of the church she hit in a whirl of green cape and golden-red hair, as she dropped to the ground, hitting earth with a heavy thunk.

"Petra!"

Several voices and calls of horror rang out for their fallen squad member.

Levi felt cold numbness give way to blazing anger.

His dark eyes turned on the Titan, who had been quick enough to nab the Garrison soldier in his fall from Petra's compromised grip, and was now toting the man towards its grotesquely huge mouth.

His screams intensified, having barely stopped since he started losing control of his sanity, rasping and breaking as they tore from his now raw throat.

Levi could feel his anger coiling around his tensed muscles, ready for action without needing prompt.

He could feel the murderous twitch in his fingers, begging to release his blades upon the Titan.

Oh, yes.

He'd make the beast pay.

But first...

* * *

Eld couldn't believe what he saw happening.

He was just about to go grab the struggling soldier from Petra when the Titan appeared and was slamming her into the wall before he could so much as blink.

As she hit, the Titan was grabbing the Garrison man, its huge jaws levering open to devour him.

Petra hit the ground.

"Eld! Get her out of there, now!" Levi's furious voice rang out, their Captain already launching into action to slay the Titan.

Immediately, Eld dropped to the ground, running and dropping to a crouch beside the petite woman.

"Petra!" He called, rolling her gently over from where she'd landed face down, arm twisted back over her side towards him.

She was pale white, totally out, making the huge scarlet gash on her forehead even more extreme in contrast.

"Damn," Eld hissed.

To his left, he was vaguely aware of an enraged Levi shooting down under the distracted abnormal before whistling up through the air behind it. He continued to pull himself sharply down and across the back of the neck, his blades following with his body as he sliced the nape clean.

The pure swiftness of his motions caused the hunk of flesh to hit the wall of the building beside it as heavily as Petra had hit it, followed by a wet flopping noise.

Meanwhile, Eld started to gather up Petra, gently but hastily sliding an arm under her shoulders and behind her knees.

It took him a second to register the shadow that fell across the path beside him, but when he did he froze mid-scoop and looked up stiffly to find himself staring back at huge, glassy blue eyes.

At the edge of the building, a short Titan, with huge buggy eyes and a protruding nose, shyly hugged the edge of the church, eyes fixed unblinkingly on him and Petra.

"Shit. You've got to kidding me," he muttered.

In the air above the buildings, two silhouettes came into view, adding to the darkness cast by the Titan.

"We've got you guys!" Aurou's voice called out.

"Just grab Petra and get to safety," Günther added.

Relief swam through Eld, and he didn't hesitate to finish securing his grip on Petra and hoist them clean into the air.

Behind him, Aurou and Günther dove in for the kill, but the little Titan was surprisingly keen and snapped, narrowly missing Aurou.

With a cry, he fell sideways, righting himself last second and pushing off the wall.

The little Titan was now right in front of him, and with a grind of its heel, lunged at him.

Gritting his teeth in annoyance, Aurou, too lunged forward, but at the last second skidded into a slide, using his gear to catch the beast ankles and propel himself underneath and away from it.

Above, Günther used its focus on eating his team mate as his opening, trusting not only his friend to get himself out of there, but his own speed to reach the Titan first.

Speed was always a make it or break it while fighting, equally a curse and a blessing.

In this case, unlike poor Petra moments before, speed was a blessing, and Günther took the Titan out while it was still crouched down mid lunge.

In the air, Eld held Petra protectively to his chest, feeling how small and delicate she felt in such a limp form.

He'd been in close quarters with her before, during training and knew how lithe and compact, yet strong her body was.

The contrast was unsettling him.

He heard a whizz beside him and Levi appeared on his flank, steaming blood encasing him in a cloud.

Seemed their leader had gone all out.

"Over there, the taller building," Levi called out over their self-made winds, "Aim for that."

With a nod, Eld shot onwards, not failing to notice the tensely drawn look on his Captain's face.

He vaguely heard Levi relaying the same instructions to the others, and they continued in uninterrupted silence to the tall, old mill factory.

Landing lightly on top of their escape point, Eld scanned around before seeing a spot to rest Petra.

It was where the flat, box roof they'd landed on met the upwards slant of the pointed roof, forming a low wall in a secure corner.

Shifting her weight around, Eld knelt as he lowered Petra into a sitting position against the roof, gently placing her head back until it touched the concrete.

He heard footsteps behind him as he crouched over her, looking for signs of... Well, he wasn't sure what exactly, just nothing worse.

"Here," a bandage appeared over his shoulder, and he looked up to see Günther's worried face.

"Thanks, man," Eld held up in the bandage in acknowledgment.

The tanned soldier put his hands on his knees as he took in Petra's gashed forehead.

"Damn. She really got pelted," he sighed as Eld tore the peeling of the sticky back off the bandage.

"What do we do now?" Auruo asked Levi, a few paces behind the others.

Levi had been utterly silent since his last orders on where to land, a dark look on his face.

Grey eyes turned to Aurou, regarding him for a second before Levi hefted a sigh and looked away again over their surroundings.

"We get her to the recovery squad, as was planned with the Garrison soldier," was the only reply.

"Speaking of.. He didn't make it, obviously," Auruo hadn't seen much past watching Eld's back as he dropped for Petra.

"Obviously not," was his tired reply.

"Is it going to be safe to move her anymore? Apart from the struggle of her being unconscious?" Günther turned to the Captain as well, still standing beside Eld.

"We've no idea how long she's going to be out," Levi glimpsed at Petra, only able to see her outline behind Eld. "We may not have a choice on moving her."

Eld sighed as he taped the last of the bandage in place. He'd mopped up as much wet blood as he could, hoping it wouldn't stop the pad slipping off.

He didn't have a second bandage for her hand, which had the skin torn off it from the heel of her thumb to the swirls of the pad, probably from the trigger of her 3DM gear.

He had to make do with stealing Aurou's cravat and tying it on.

All the while, through the poking and prodding and Auruo demanding Eld replace his cravat, Petra remained still.

"Come on, girl, wake up," Eld said softly to the unresponsive woman.

Her cheek was criss crossed with scratches, where she'd obviously grazed the edge of the building, starting to get puffy and weeping.

He had just raised his hand to dab at the thin, watery, dribble of blood trickling down when she jolted awake, thrashing against his firm hands.

"Hey, hey! It's ok Petra, it's me. You're safe," he told her in a calming voice as she thrashed blindly at her carer, grabbing his wrist in her grasp.

Golden eyes focuses wildly on him before recognition settled in, clearing the haze behind them.

"Eld," she breathed out shakily, placing her forehead briefly on his captured wrist.

"What happened?" She asked groggily when she looked back up.

Quickly, the boys filled her in on the events that transpire from where she was grabbed.

"The soldier?" She asked with a tired frown, still looking pale under the dried blood and bandage.

"He didn't make it," Günther said lowly, "It all happened too quick."

Petra let out a breath between her teeth, looking down and placing her fingers on her brow.

"Dammit all," she muttered angrily, tears heating the rims of her eyes.

"That idiot nearly got you killed," Levi stated darkly, eyes roving the perimeter to their right.

Petra looked up at his profile. He was standing tensely, arms stiff by his sides and for some reason he wouldn't even look over at her.

"The recovery team is still over there, pulling soldiers back. We'll get you to them and then that's it for you. You're done for today, Petra," Levi finally turned to look at her on the last words, daring her to argue.

"Right. Fair enough," she sighed with a pained frown.

That worried Levi even more - usually, when it came to duty and fighting, his team went hell for leather, rarely letting an injury stop them, or at least fighting tooth and nail to stay in the game.

The fact that Petra had so readily agreed to pack it for the day had him worried she was hurt worse than they suspected.

"You think you're OK to move, yet?" Aurou asked her as she tensed her muscles and shifted around.

"I'm fine. Just.. sore," she winced as she stretched a particularly bashed muscle.

"Yup. That's what crashing into churches will do to you," Eld smiled crookedly, standing up and offering a hand down to her.

"Who knew it wouldn't move out of my way?" Petra joked back half heartedly.

Taking his hand, she tried to hoist herself up, which proved more difficult than she'd predicted.

A second hand was held out to her, and she let her tall friend grab her forearms and practically dead lift her to her feet.

He released her warily, but she was steady once standing.

Just incredibly tender.

"Right, there's a clear path over to the recovery team if we scale outwards and double back," Levi informed them, scanning the horizon. "We get Petra there, continue with the mission."

"Captain, that's going to waste so much time. We were so close to closing in the Titans at the gate," Petra argued, absent mindedly touching the bandage on her head.

"Petra, not only is that not my top priority right now, it's also not your call," Levi snapped his eyes to hers.

"Yes, sir," Petra backed down.

"Injury and death is always a possibility we take on. It doesn't mean I'm going to tempt it," the dark haired Captain said in a softer tone. "We'll get you taken care of and still have time to finish the mission. Aurou, you take the lead with me. Eld and Günther, flag Petra."

Levi looked at his team, eyes resting on Petra. She was so pale, yet still ready to go.

His heart clenched again at the thought of how close he'd just come to losing her.

Brushing the thought aside, he raised his hands, fingers closing on the handles of his gear.

"Let's go."

* * *

The rest of the mission went without a hitch - a few close shaves, sure, but nothing major - and in all Team Levi dispatched seventeen Titans.

Levi claimed most of the kills, but his team still managed to rack up a few.

Less than half of the Garrisons they went in to rescue made it home.

* * *

Petra had been unhappily left in the care of the recovery team.

Despite her agreeing to it originally, on seeing the green group of Garrison soldiers she was being left with, a few experienced Scouts scattered in the mix, she turned a deadpan look at her team.

Levi merely filled in the soldier in charge before ordering Petra to go back and rest.

She watched as they all zipped off the roof, heading back to the gate.

An uneasy feeling rested low in her belly, not because she doubted them, but just not being there to see their success for herself had her nervous.

Alas, all she could do was follow the recovery team and let herself be plonked down in a carriage on the safe side of the Wall.

She almost felt like a sulky teenager, but the sobering sights around her quelled the worst of her annoyance.

Several injured soldiers came back in the group with her, some with broken bones, some broken souls.

One young girl, probably a few years younger than Petra herself, had sat rocking herself, varying between crying hysterically and quietly clawing the skin off her forearms.

Petra watched uncomfortably as two of the medics tried to talk her around, in the end having to resort to restraints as she got a good layer or two of skin off.

"You seem to be handling this better than most," a kind faced Garrison soldier smiled tiredly at her as she checked Petra over. "You must have some experience under your belt."

Instead of replying, Petra tapped her Scouts crest. The woman's expression darkened for a second, before she placed a hand on Petra's shoulder.

"You brave soul. Today must have been nothing for you," the sandy haired Garrison tried to smile, but Petra could hear the underlying tone.

It almost sounded accusatory.

"It's never nothing to face Titans and see soldiers fall, m'aam," Petra dropped the formal title in out of respect to her elder, but her own voice held a hard edge.

The woman simply gave another tired smile and slid her hand from Petra's shoulder.

Why did everyone hate them, the Scouts, so much? Petra sighed internally to herself.

It was like people didn't trust someone who could be so risk taking, as if the risks weren't done in part for them as well as civilians.

It was infuriating.

Sitting for the rest of the journey is heavy silence, Petra almost sighed in relief when they reached the town centre.

Just as the driver was turning the horses in a circle to halt in place, the Garrison woman was instructing the wounded that they would be transported to the make shift hospital wing set up for them.

As she was assigning soldiers to medics, Petra was slipping from the carriage, the horses only stopping when she was already a couple of steps away.

Head swimming, Petra tried to make herself seem small and had just slipped between a group of civilians stopping for a gawk, when she heard her name being called from the woman.

No, no way, Petra thought to herself.

A small tinge of satisfaction lit her face as the Scout managed to slip down a side street and the voices and rising din from the centre faded.

Now that she was standing on her own, however, Petra felt the full whack of her injuries as she stretched her muscles fleeing.

Slowing to a meandering pace, she gave a sigh and placed a palm in the hollow of her eye.

"Oh man, what a day," she muttered out loud.

Coming to the end of another street, a flash of earlier hit Petra, followed by a jab of panic.

In front of her wasn't an empty street, but a giant smile leering down at her.

With a sharp breath, the strawberry blonde fell sideways a step, hand pressed to her eye again as the panic swept through her.

Taking rattling breaths, Petra forced herself to get a grip.

Breathing deep through her nose, counting to ten, she snapped her eyes open.

No Titan.

The only thing that faced her was a sun filled street, someone's flower box by their door spouting deep red flowers.

Red as blood.

"No. Calm down," Petra demanded herself.

This had been far from her first close call, let alone being so close to another person dying.

She chalked it up to her injuries making her skittish.

Loath as she'd been to admit it, Levi had been right in her calling it quits for the day.

What she needed right now was rest.

Pushing off the wall, Petra continued on to the house they were bunking in.

She couldn't help but give a relieved sigh as she finally sunk down on her bed, feeling every single bruise, cut and bang throb now all adrenaline and thoughts had left her.

"Ow."

The silent house creaked in answer and Petra actually couldn't wait for her noisy team mates to return.

Noise meant people.

People meant they were safe.

Petra sent up a silent prayer as she let the sudden wave of sleep pull her under.

* * *

"Uhhhh," came the drawn out groan. "My feet."

"Aurou! Didn't we start out this day giving out to you about giving out?" Eld asked in exasperation.

"Yes, Eld, we did," with a grunt, Aurou had managed to winch his boots off.

His hands started a slow caress of his aching feet, all the while looking at Eld as he spoke.

"And I still stand by my earlier point. Notice as soon as we returned, we went right back to getting snub noses from the Garrison and civilians? No respect."

"It doesn't matter. We helped saved lives today, that's what counts," Eld retorted, "And come on, man, don't rub your feet while you talk to me. It's just creepy."

Levi wondered if he rolled his eyes anymore at his subordinates, specifically today on the trek home alone, would his eyes get stuck.

"Both of you. Shut the hell up," he commanded distractedly, not even having to change his usual tone to have effect.

Both men stopped, Günther giving an almost inaudible sigh of relief.

The dark haired Captain wondered how he usually put up with so much annoying jabber.

Granted, he didn't mind his squad talking, joking - whatever. As long as he could tune it out, he didn't care.

But this evening, the men's bickering and bitching had been like an itch he couldn't soothe, constant and irritating.

Thinking of it, he didn't usually have to step in as peace keeper. That usually fell to...

Petra.

He'd sorely missed her presence since he benched her, catching himself once or twice before dropping her name with an order.

With the men, she either soothed or lightened the arguments - except when she was fighting with Aurou, but he usually deserved it.

That or she distracted Levi with easy banter that he oddly enjoyed after a tiring day. It was like a balm, her soft voice easing his never ending thoughts.

Yes, Levi had definitely felt his female soldiers absence.

With that train of thought, he felt the tug again that had been pulling him all evening, to know how she was.

He'd been worried, especially considering he could still almost feel the smack in his own bones, about how hard she'd hit the building.

"Aurou, Eld. Seeing as you two have so much to talk about, you can both go start prepping our gear for leaving tomorrow," the short Captain ordered, "Günther, you can start scrounging some food up. I'm going up to check on Petra."

Starting up the stairs to where they were all rooming, Levi could hear the men go about getting their tasks done, Auruo mumbling under his breath.

One more eye roll didn't stick Levi's eyes, it turned out.

Reaching the landing, the dark haired man could see Petra's door was open, sunlight shafting through.

The strawberry blonde was sitting up on her bed, rebandaging the apparently shoddy work the shaky handed newbie medic had been putting on her when they left her.

"How are you feeling?" Levi asked her from the doorway, not even bothering to announce himself properly.

Petra must have heard them come in downstairs, as she didn't start at his voice.

"My head feels like a burst melon, and I'm black on blue over half my back, but apart from that," she smiled up at her Captain, "I'm ready to go again."

"Your head does quite remind me of a melon," came his deadpan reply.

"Ah- Hey, Captain! It was a figure o-"

She cut off as a gentle hand rested on her head.

"I'm kidding, Petra," he said in his same tone, his hand disappearing from her head as his weight settled on the edge of her bed.

Reaching for her hands, he took over her bandaging efforts, which were sadly still better done one handed to herself, than the medics attempt.

"Oh.. Thank you, Captain," Petra muttered, feeling a slight heat tinge her cheeks at the tender act from her superior.

They sat in comfortable silence for a few seconds, Levi rolling the bandage tightly before starting it afresh, feeling the strong, yet small, work worn hand beneath his grip.

The torn area of her thumb was raw and an angry shade of red and fleshy pink.

It could have been so much worse.

"I shouldn't have let you take him," Levi stated abruptly, an unhappy frown barely shadowing his forehead as he worked.

When Petra just looked at him slightly shocked, he glimpsed up at her silence.

Upon seeing her expression, he turned his mouth slightly down in a grimace.

"Come on, we both know it's true. As strong as you are, one of the men should have taken him. Nothing to do with your skills or strength," he shook his head, "It was a stupid call... I apologise."

"Augh... Cap.. Captain. It's ok, really," Petra stuttered, completely caught off guard by not only his apology, but his doubt in a decision he made.

Their Captain was as strategic and smart as he was fast and strong.

To hear him say he made a wrong call.. It was downright unnerving.

"No. It's my judgement that is supposed to keep us alive out there, among other things. And if I make choices that jeopardize either a mission or one of my team... I have no right leading soldiers," serious eyes turned up to meet her wide amber ones.

"Usually I don't doubt myself, or make bad decisions, to be honest. But today..." he trailed off, his deep voice holding an unusual tinge of regret.

"Today I should have known that a soldier of his size would have thrown you off balance more so than the others. I'm sorry."

Petra sat in pure silence, trying to process what was being said to her.

She shook her fuzzy head - ever so slightly, so as not to increase the ringing pain.

"Sir, I was the closest to him. There was no time. If we'd waited, we could have been out numbered. You know that," Petra assured him with a frown, knowing he was well aware of it, but unsure as to why he was doubting he actually did.

"And as to your decisions... None of us ever doubt them, ever. You've never led us astray or left room for doubt, yet, Captain. And with your track record, I don't see you slipping up anytime soon," she finished with a lighter tone, a slight smile pulling up the corner of her mouth.

Levi looked intently at his subordinate, her faith and trust in him so absolute, even after a day like today.

Realising after a couple of seconds he was still gazing at her, he smoothly turned his gaze back to her torn hand.

"Still," he spoke softly again, eyes fixed on the slightly blood stained bandage, "I don't ever want any of you to think I just fly in on a whim and don't put my squads safety above getting the job done. Hell, I even put you before other soldiers, if I'm being honest."

He could feel Petra's eyes on him and he wondered idly why he was being so open with her.

Seemed to happen a bit too often around his golden hair, golden hearted subordinate.

Pulling the tails of the bandage together in a firm and gentle bow, he curled his fingers around her hand instead of letting go and looked up at her.

"I may have chosen you all, but you equally chose me in the end. I'll do my best not to fail you, either."

Petra couldn't look away from his grey eyes, the heat from his hand wrapped securely around her injured one.

She'd never felt safer... More cared for.

A few seconds passed before Levi gave her a rare, small corner of a smile, squeezing her fingers briefly, carefully, before rising and slipping his hand from hers.

"Get some rest, Petra. I have to go report to Erwin about today," he informed her, back to his normal self as he confidently paced to the door, giving her a look over his shoulder. "I'll get one of the others to bring you some food. I'll check on you later."

With a soft click, the door closed behind her Captain, leaving Petra alone.

The setting sun filled her room with a lazy haze, giving a feeling of peace and ease.

A total contradiction to the world separated by the walls.

The heavy feeling of Levi's hand on hers still warmed her and Petra dazedly ran her fingers over the spot.

It was so rare to see that side of Levi, Petra cherished the moments dearly.

And yet...

She was a realistic girl, kept flying fancies and daydreams to a minimum - had to, to get where she was now, where she'd so desperately wanted to get.

... And yet, she couldn't help indulge herself in the feeling that their beloved Captain was becoming more open and almost, dare she say it, warm towards her as of late.

It was like his hard shell was cracking around her... No, not even cracking.

It almost felt like he was allowing her to see in sometimes.

She and no one else.

She'd asked the men folk on the team casually if they'd thought Levi was any different lately.

They all said no, not caring enough of her sudden question to elaborate.

It just puzzled Petra more.

Petra had also noticed Levi had been making more and more casual touches; showing her corrections on positions by guiding her hand, or arm in training by moving them himself, whereas before, he would have used words.

Touching her elbow if he wanted to get by her in the narrow halls or allowing her into a room first.

And just then, his fingers gripping hers as he spoke so softly to her, so openly...

A faint flutter twirled in Petra's chest, her heart beat picking up a notch, and she could feel the heat pool in her cheeks.

Was she crazy, imagining these things, that Levi would want to touch her more?

Or crazier for wanting it herself so much?

There was no denying her feelings from herself - Petra had long ago acknowledged and unsuccessfully tried to beat back the ever growing fondness for her Captain.

But every time she saw him in action, every time he gave a confident, rallying speech... Heck, anytime he did just about anything, lately, the young woman felt her heart store all the memories and feelings up, amounting it to one thing.

She loved Levi, loved him with every ounce of her fibre.

It was what pushed her sometimes, when days were long and her body screamed in agony, to get stronger to get better - to just keep going.

Knowing it was all for humanity, yes, but also that the stronger she was, the more she could protect him, help him.

And the longer she stood a chance of being around him.

Yes, Petra Ral was indeed a girl in love, and as she heard her infatuation's voice giving orders below, she couldn't help a slow smile cross her face.

Today was awful, it was grueling, mentally and physically.

But she'd made it through and would be there to see a new dawn with her team, her new made family.

"Just as always," she spoke softly, voices and noises finally breaking the silence down stairs. "All in a day's work."

* * *

 **And** **there we have it.**

 **It's crazy, even going back over my previous fics, how much I feel my workings changed, matured in ways, even after so little time.**

 **But I feel wrong updating them somehow..**

 **I was going to redo Everything's On Fire.. I may still...**

 **Anyway, hope you enjoyed and I may have a couple more one shots up my sleeve!**

 **Thanks for reading :)**


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